Oceans, Seas and Channels of the World Quiz

Answer: Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean covers approximately one-third of the surface of the Earth and is large enough to contain all of the Earth's continents. The area covered by the Pacific Ocean is over 165 million square kilometres (over 64 million square miles). The deepest trench in the world, the Mariana Trench, is in the Pacific Ocean and its depth is about 10,994 metres (36,070 ft).

The Portuguese explorer, Ferdinand Magellan gave the Pacific Ocean its name. Just some of the countries that border the Pacific Ocean are Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Canada, United States, China, Ecuador, Mexico, Chile, and many, many more. The total is approximately 60 different countries and territories.

Answer: English Channel

The English Channel runs between the south of England and the north of France and connects the Atlantic Ocean to the North Sea. It is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, so much so that there are Traffic Separation Systems in operation to regulate the shipping to avoid collisions and maritime accidents. There are five main inhabited Channel Islands, Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark and Herm, and there are several other smaller islands, mostly uninhabited.

A rail link between the UK and France, the Channel Tunnel, was opened in 1994. In August 1875, Matthew Webb was the first known Englishman to swim the English Channel from Dover to Calais, in the time of 21 hours and 45 minutes.

Answer: Southern Ocean

The Southern Ocean is the fourth largest of the world's oceans and some of its names have been the "South Polar Ocean", the "Antarctic Ocean" and the "Great Southern Ocean". It was officially named "The Southern Ocean" by the International Hydrographic Organisation in 2000.

It is generally believed that Captain James Cook was the first person to sail into the Southern Ocean whilst looking for "the great southern continent". In 1775 he completed the first circumnavigation of Antarctica.

Answer: Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea covers approximately 2.5 million sq km (965,000 sq miles) and has been used since ancient times. It is referred to in the Bible as the "Great Sea", "The Sea", the "Hinder Sea", the "Western Sea" and the "Sea of the Philistines". Some of the larger Mediterranean Islands are Crete, Rhodes, Corfu, Cyprus, Sicily and Sardinia.

Just some of the present-day countries to have coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea are: Egypt, Turkey, Greece, Slovenia, Malta, Spain, France, Italy and Monaco. The International Hydrographic Organisation has sub-divided the Mediterranean Sea into smaller bodies of water such as the Strait of Gibraltar, the Alboran Sea, the Balearic Sea, the Ligurian Sea, the Ionian Sea, the Adriatic Sea and the Aegean Sea, among others.

Answer: Red Sea

The Red Sea has a surface area of approximately 438,000 sq.km (169,100 sq. miles) and is about 2,230 km (1,398 miles) long.

Ancient Egyptians sailed on the Red Sea about 1500 BC and there is a Bible story in the Book of Exodus, telling of the Israelites crossing a body of water which was the Red Sea. The ancient Romans sailed on the Red Sea to trade with India. It was also a route for the Spice Trade during the 1500s. The Red Sea borders Egypt, Djibouti, Eritrea, Sudan, Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

The Suez Canal, which runs south from Egypt to the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea, connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. The Suez Canal opened in 1869 and took ten years to build and allows water transportation between Europe and Asia.

Answer: Coral Sea

The Coral Sea is part of the Pacific Ocean and was so named due to the numerous coral reef formations, including the Great Barrier Reef with its approximately 1,000 islands and over 2,500 individual coral reefs with all the wonderful birds and aquatic life. The largest atolls of the Coral Sea are the Chesterfield Islands and Lihou Reef.

The surface area of the Coral Sea is over 4.7 million sq. km (1.8m sq. miles), with an average depth of 2,394 m (7,854 ft).

During World War II there was a major naval battle, known as the "Battle of the Coral Sea", between the allied air forces and navies of Australia and the US, against the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Answer: Mozambique Channel

The Mozambique Channel is approximately 450km (289 miles) wide at its narrowest point and about 1,600 km (1,000 miles) long. The channel is located between the Island of Madagascar and Mozambique on the African mainland. The channel is an important shipping route and has a heavy rainy and cyclone season between November and May.

Some of the islands in the Channel were used by English pirates in the 17th and 18th centuries as their bases. Modern-day pirates, mainly from Somalia are now operating in the Mozambique Channel.

Answer: Caribbean Sea

In early times the Caribbean Sea was known as the "Sea of the Antilles". It is bordered to the southwest and west by Central America and Mexico, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and in the east by the Lesser Antilles. The name "Caribbean" comes from an indigenous group in the area in the fifteenth century, the Caribs.

Christopher Columbus sailed into the Caribbean Sea whilst trying to find a sea route to Asia, and the islands were quickly colonised by Spain, England, Holland, Portugal, France and Denmark.

The Caribbean Sea has become a very popular tourist destination due to the magnificent island scenery and the tropical temperatures. There are approximately 28 island nations and over 7,000 individual islands. The largest island is Cuba, which is part of the Greater Antilles. The second largest island is Hispaniola with two nations, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, sharing the island.

Answer: Bering Sea

The Bering Sea covers about two million sq. km (1.2 million sq. miles) and is bordered by Alaska, Siberia and Kamchatka Peninsula, the Aleutian Islands and the Bering Strait, which connects the Bering Sea to the Arctic Ocean. Some of the islands in the Bering Sea are St Lawrence Island, King Island, St Matthews Island and Nunivak Island.

The largest submarine canyon in the world, Zhemchug Canyon, is located in the Bering Sea and it is deeper than the Grand Canyon.

Answer: Tasman Sea

The Tasman Sea was named after the first recorded explorer to find Tasmania and New Zealand, Abel Tasman. It is about 2,000 km (1,200 miles) across and approximately 2,800 km (1,700 miles) north to south. Following upon Dutch explorer Abel Tasman's discovery, Captain James Cook, in 1770, mapped the Tasman Sea during his first exploratory voyage.

People of Australia and New Zealand refer to the The Tasman Sea as "The Ditch". In Maori it is called "Te Tai-o-Rehua". Some of the islands in the Tasman Sea are Lord Howe Island, Norfolk Island, Middleton Reef and Elizabeth Reef. Charles Kingsford Smith was the first person to fly across the Tasman Sea in 1928, and in 1977 Colin Quincey was the first person to row solo across the sea.